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Month: June 2013

The Spiritual Journey Devotions With Ken David Stewart:
I have found that once a person becomes saved, by accepting Jesus Christ by faith into their heart, they have another decision to make. They have to ask themselves the question, “Do we serve a ‘good God’ or a ‘bad God’?” There is and always has been a great deal of theology that teaches that God expects you to strictly adhere to an extensive list of rules and regulations. Interestingly enough, some of these rules and regulations vary depending upon which denomination you subscribe to. This theology basically teaches that if the believer does not obey the rules and regulations of that particular denomination they will be punished by God. They may not even need to do anything bad. God could put a sickness or disease upon them to teach them something. This is what I term the ‘bad God’ theology.
However, I choose to believe the ‘good God’ teaching. In this theology God loves you with an abundance of love that we cannot even understand. He does not ask you to live up to impossible standards. He does recognize sin but has taken care of this through the crucifixion of His Son, Jesus Christ. This does not mean that the believer is able to go out and sin as much as they want. God recognizes the laws of sowing and reaping. I also don’t believe that God puts any sicknesses or disease on us to teach us a lesson. Sickness and disease is from Satan and God’s will is to heal you when you are afflicted.

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Daniel Mason, the head of security for Blake Riley Enterprises had just picked up the morning edition of the Kelowna Sun . He took it to his office to read. As part of his job duties Daniel skimmed through the newspaper underlining, highlighting or writing in the margins anything that might be of interest to Blake Riley. Blake was a voracious reader of both novels and non- fiction books but didn’t have the patience to read the daily newspaper from cover to cover. That’s why he had his head of security search the paper for him. Blake and Daniel had many conversations in the past and Daniel had a good grasp on what might be of interest to his boss.
As he was reading through the classifieds Daniel noticed a very strange advertisement. It was posted by a marine biologist professor at The University of British Columbia. His name was Dr. Lionel Phelge and he was asking for financial sponsors for an exploratory expedition to hunt for the Ogopogo Lake Monster. As Daniel was putting a large red circle around the ad his office phone rang.
“Hi Daniel, this is Peter Marks The captain of the boat that searched for Champ. I got a message that you might have a similar expedition in mind.”
“Yes, I do. However, I have to give my boss, Blake Riley the credit for the idea,’ replied Daniel.
“Isn’t he that eccentric billionaire who’s always seeking new adventures.
?”
“I wouldn’t call Blake eccentric but he is a man that is always looking for new challenges in life,” answered Daniel.

“So what does your boss have in mind?”
“He wants to head up an expedition to capture Ogopogo and keep him in his private zoo,” answered Daniel.
“What! This ups the ante considerably. So we’re expected to capture this creature?”
“That’s Blake’s goal,” answered Danuel.
“Well my crew and I are going to want much more money than National Geographic paid us. We’re also going to need to hire some additional staff for hunting and trapping this animal, said Peter Marks.
“I wouldn’t worry about adequate compensation. My boss has pretty deep pockets and once he embraces a new project he becomes obsessed by it.”
‘Well I still have the contact information from the old National Geographic crew and I could call them to see if they’re interested,” said Peter.
“I would appreciate that very much,” said Daniel. “Remember to tell them that getting paid generously for their efforts shouldn’t be a problem.”

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Episode 62
Bobby O’Conner recovered his composure enough to make an appointment to meet Harvey Perkins, the fisherman who claimed to have seen Ogopogo today. They agreed to meet at Tim Horton’s at 5:00 PM.
As Bobby got in his car to drive to Mike O’Grady’s apartment he thought that his future as a reporter with The Kelowna Sun might still be salvageable. He had to admit that the witnesses that he talked to today both sounded credible.
At 2:00PM Bobby parked his black Pontiac Grand Am on the street across from Mike O’Grady’s apartment. Mike lived in a run -down inner city area. Bobby made sure that he locked his car before he walked across the street He walked up a flight of rickety wooden stairs to Mike’s apartment. Bobby thought that he could smell the faintly detectable scent of urine in the hall.
Bobby knocked on Mike’s door but it took at least a minute before his friend answered it.
Mike O’Grady has been in a compromised state of health for approximately the last five years. The former photo analysis expert is now sixty-three years old and suffers from both arthritis and emphysema. The fact that Mike weighs nearly three hundred pounds and still smokes as many cigarettes as his lungs can handle hasn’t helped matters. Mike walls with a slight limp and uses a cane to help him get around.
“Have a seat Bobby if you can find one. You may have to move a few books off the couch,” said Mike.
To say that Mike O’Grady’s tiny bachelor apartment was cluttered would be a great understatement. Books, magazines, newspapers, cds and videos were scattered everywhere. Mike’s carpet looked like it had not seen a vacuum cleaner in the last six months.
“Hand over your pictures and I’ll have a look at them,” said Mike sinking into his chair with a loud groan. ”Damn arthritis!”
Mike studied the first picture carefully. He turned the picture around and studied it from several angles. He held the picture close to his face and then moved it about an arm’s length away.
“It’s authentic, all right,” said Mike. He picked up the second photo and went through exactly the same procedure.
“Both pictures are real. They are not touched up nor have they been tampered with in any way,” said Mike.
“How can you be so sure Mike? You haven’t studied the pictures using any of your instruments.” said Bobby.
“I don’t need to, but I will if it will put your mind more at ease. I’ve been doing this type of science long enough to spot a fake just by examining it with the naked eye.”

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“I believe that an expedition would be a crucial part of our research on The Lake Demon. That’s what the aboriginal people called the creature. Of course, we would also be looking at any previously written articles and would want to interview people who claim to have seen Ogopogo,” said Dean Sanderson.
“We’ll need to brainstorm everything we’re going to need for this project as well as knowing who can perform each job.” said Dr. Phelge.
“ Not to mention the financing for the expedition,” added Dean Sanderson.
“ A project like this could cost a fortune, Lionel.”
“I’m well aware of that, Edward. That’s why I think it’s critical that we make up a wish list of all the equipment we would like to have for our expedition. From there we can do some research and get an estimate of how much money we’re looking at,” said Lionel.
“The university will give us some money but I don’t think it will be a lot,” said Dean Sanderson.
“We may be eligible for some government grant money,” said Lionel.
‘We may have to come up with the majority of the expense from private sources,” said Kyle.
“I think you’re right, but where could we find some wealthy private donors?” asked Dean Sanderson.
“I don’t know, but why don’t we put out some ads asking for financial assistance. You never know. There could be a rich eccentric entrepreneur out there somewhere who could be interested in a project like this,” answered Kyle.
“It’s worth a try,” said Ryan. “Kyle could be right about the eccentric private donor just waiting for an opportunity like this.”
“It’s also going to depend on how well we sell the expedition. Someone out there might want the fame or publicity,” said Jasmine.
“That’s what I like about working with young people. They are so creative in generating ideas,” said Lionel.
“Not to mention enthusiasm and a positive attitude,” added Dean Sanderson.

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The Need For People/The Spiritual Journey
For most of my life I have either had a fear of abandonment or a desire to limit contact with other people. For the last two decades of my life it has been more of the latter. A lot of this has been caused by a lack of energy as I have gotten older. I now find that there is not much gas left in the tank after I complete a day’s work. The other factor is that I am both an introvert and an extravert. However, I am primarily an introvert as I find that most of my hobbies and activities after work and on days off are solitary activities. I have an almost insatiable love of knowledge and self- education. I find that I am most unhappy when I am not pursuing new learning. I presently have a fairly lengthy list of leisure activities including reading, listening to audio books, playing bass, playing electric guitar, drawing, going to the gym, family time (including pets), watching videos and numerous other interests. Most of these are solitary activities. I find that I can only be with people for a limited period of time or my battery gets drained. The only way I can recharge is by resting or engaging in some solitary activity.
Recently I have enjoyed attending services at The Winnipeg Center Vineyard. I like the pastors, the theology, the praise and worship and most everything about it. I also enjoy the fellowship with the people who attend the Vineyard. Last Sunday the Vineyard had an outdoor barbeque and I enjoyed seeing two people who I have not seen in a long time and talking with a couple of people I had met at The Father’s Heart Conference.

For most of my life I have either had a fear of abandonment or a desire to limit contact with other people. For the last two decades of my life it has been more of the latter. A lot of this has been caused by a lack of energy as I have gotten older. I now find that there is not much gas left in the tank after I complete a day’s work. The other factor is that I am both an introvert and an extravert. However, I am primarily an introvert as I find that most of my hobbies and activities after work and on days off are solitary activities. I have an almost insatiable love of knowledge and self- education. I find that I am most unhappy when I am not pursuing new learning. I presently have a fairly lengthy list of leisure activities including reading, listening to audio books, playing bass, playing electric guitar, drawing, going to the gym, family time (including pets), watching videos and numerous other interests. Most of these are solitary activities. I find that I can only be with people for a limited period of time or my battery gets drained. The only way I can recharge is by resting or engaging in some solitary activity.

Recently I have enjoyed attending services at The Winnipeg Center Vineyard. I like the pastors, the theology, the praise and worship and most everything about it. I also enjoy the fellowship with the people who attend the Vineyard. Last Sunday the Vineyard had an outdoor barbeque and I enjoyed seeing two people who I have not seen in a long time and talking with a couple of people I had met at The Father’s Heart Conference.

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“Well, to tell you the truth sir, we were sitting in the university cafeteria discussing how boring the articles are in the student’s university newspaper,” answered Kyle.
Dean Sanderson burst out laughing after hearing Ryan say this.
r“I’m glad it was a student and not me that said it. I’ve read the student’s newspaper so I know what you’re talking about. I understand that you have recruited two extra people who are visiting form out of province,” said Dean Sanderson.
“Yes, that would be Ryan and Monique. They are here for their summer vacations and have shared some very interesting information about the Ogopogo,” said Ryan.
“Well, I’d be very happy if they shared this information with Dr. Phelge and myself. What about it, Monique?” said Dean Sanderson.
“Ryan and I had just met as we were going on a jog on a trail near Lake Okanagon. We’d just run a short distance when I turned to my right and saw something unusual on the lake. I saw a large black hump that was undulating on the water,” answered Monique.
“Then I stopped to have a look. It appeared to be a large creature of some sort but I’d never seen anything like it on the lake before. Two fishermen also saw it albeit from a much greater distance. The object submerged after a few minutes.”
“It was definitely Ogopogo you saw,” said Dr. Phelge barely able to conceal his excitement.
“I managed to take two pictures of the creature,” added Monique.
“Can we see the pictures?” asked Dean Sanderson.
“We don’t have them now,” said Ryan. “We lent them to the reporter, Bobby O’Conner. He’s taking them to a photography expert to get them analyzed.”
“Get them back immediately,” said Dr. Phelge. “Try to get a written report from the expert that analyzed the photos as well.”
“As you people know Dr. Phelge is taking a year’s sabbatical leave. He has been an excellent teacher and researcher for this university and we wanted to eward him with a year free of his teaching duties. During this time Lionel has told me that he wants to do an intensive research project about The Ogopogo,” said Dean Sanderson.
“I’m hoping to write a series of articles and perhaps a book on my research,” explained Dr. Phelge.
“We are also hoping to write some great articles about our research on Ogopogo for the university newspaper,” said Kyle.
“And we would like to join an expedition with you to search for Ogopogo,” said Ryan.
“I believe that an expedition would be a crucial part of our research on The Lake Demon. That’s what the aboriginal people called the creature. Of course, we would also be looking at any previously written articles and would want to interview people who claim to have seen Ogopogo,” said Dean Sanderson.

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I motivated myself to go to Shapes for a workout this morning. I concentrated on a light walk on the treadmill and then moved on to the weight loss program on the elliptical trainer. Now that I am back at home I don’t appear to be feeling any bad side effects. My Charlie horse seems to have healed. Yesterday, I went for a forty minute ride on my mountain bike. Now that subbing season is almost over I plan to get in a lot more physical activity this summer. During my working season I found it very difficult to work up the energy to go to the gym after work. My goal is to lose a substantial amount of weight during the summer months. Last summer I was quite self- disciplined in sticking to a physical training program. On most days I would either take our dogs to the dog park for a run, go to Shapes or go for a ride on my mountain bike. I made some muscle gains but did not lose any weight. I guess I’’ll have to work on my diet more seriously this summer.
When I got back from the gym this morning I started listening to both The Beatles red and blue compilation albums. Their music certainly stands the test of time. This summer I’m going to try learning to play the bass lines for some of their songs from these two albums.
Yesterday marked 22 years since Martha and I first met at a Grant Singles baseball game. I remember being in a bad mood that evening and was not too interested in talking to some body new. My bad mood had lifted by the time we got to the post game wind up at Pizza Hut. The rest, as they say, is history and we are still in love with each other after all this time. God is good.